Cod culture

John Cahill looks at the changes he has seen in cod fishing
over the last 40 years. Growing up in a
family that had the Goulburn and Murray River as their playground, Murray cod was
a big part of life, with spare time a mix of cod, Murray River cray or duck
shooting, depending on the season, no matter what it was, it was inevitably stuffed into a hessian
bag. His adolescent memories are filled
with shotguns, camp fires, flat bottom punts and red gum enclosed green rivers
strewn with dead timber.

Fast forwarding 20 odd years and the cod fishing scene has
transitioned. The focus has gone from
drowning baits and killing fish to getting casting big surface lures in the
quest to have a massive green fish crunch on a lure in an explosion of white
water; cod are legit cool now and are now afforded the greatest respect.A new
generation has sprung up that loves the same things about the river as the old
guard but their focus has changed to putting in the hard, sleep deprived yards
to get that bite from a big greenback, take a photo and release a trophy fish
in good shape for the next guy, that's the new cod culture.